Oracle of NY

Non-Chronological Transferable Skills

After eight months of passing out the same resume, I still did not have a job. Although acquaintances who read my resume sometimes made suggestions, I received enough positive feedback from prospective employers to make me feel as though my resume was as good as it was going to get.

Typical responses included: “Excellent resume!” “Strong cv!” “Great experience!” “You are certainly qualified—perhaps overqualified!”

Then why wasn’t anyone hiring me? I thought I had a great resume—other people had told me so. I was famous—yet, I still could not land a job.

Paloma was insistent. “Your resume needs to stand out. You need to do something different. You have to write a non-chronological resume and you need to base it on your transferable skills.”

Transferable skills made some sense to me. Those were the skills I could apply to a variety of tasks, jobs and environments. But a non-chronological resume? Wasn’t my resume supposed to be a sequential, orderly documentation of my work experience? What use could there be in writing a non-chronological resume? What would a potential employer think if they received one?

I was hesitant, but I was also intrigued.

“Forget about the chronological order of your jobs,” Paloma explained. “Concentrate on your transferable skills and remember the mantra: I can make you money. I can save you money. I can solve your problems.”

Paloma had shown herself to be sensible with the advice she had given me so far, so I figured, what have I got to lose? Obviously, whatever I was doing was not working. I had everything going for me—a degree from MIT in Management Science, world-class work experience in business development, commercial and investment banking and more international publicity than money could buy. Yet I had been unemployed for eight months—and two months had passed since I had been gifted with my publicity.

At Paloma’s behest, I agreed to reassess my experience and rewrite my resume. I spent several tortuous days working on the new format and even more importantly, working on myself.

Once I got past the initial angst, writing a non-chronological transferable skills resume released me from a lifetime of constraints. It allowed me to consider and include all my skills and experiences, not just the skills that were most obvious from the jobs and tasks I had performed. I was able to include in my resume the skills from my education, hobbies and life experience—the skills that set me apart, defined my individuality and emphasized my greatest accomplishments—the skills that could help me land a new job.

The results were startling and transformational. Instead of having a dry, chronological resume which listed job titles and job descriptions in a standard format with monotone content, I was able to clearly express the breadth of my skill set and achievements and the depth of my personality and capabilities. It was my land-in-Oz-and-everything-turns-to-color moment. Instead of merely citing my job experiences and education, I was able to express my capacity for experience and learning.

As a result of my efforts and self-evaluation, I produced a non-chronological transferable skills resume containing examples under each skill category demonstrating how I had used my talents to make money, save money and solve problems.

My new resume could even be used as a master list template from which to create an endless variety of job-specific resumes and targeted cover letters. It also included a personal touch, my photograph—a simple but wonderful improvement.

Lesson Learned—Get Professional Help!

• It is too easy and there are too many people sending out resumes by email. Unless you are a perfect match, it is hard to get noticed—and even then, you still need a lot of luck to get a response. 



• It is imperative to follow up when you send out your resume and follow up with impact. Remind your potential employer how you can make them money, save them money and solve their problems.



• It is much more effective to speak to people on the telephone than to contact them via email—and it is much more effective to meet in person than to speak on the telephone. Ultimately, it is who you know and who knows you. By far, most jobs are found via personal networking.



• You may not think you need or can afford professional help when you are searching for a job, but if you are struggling—or even if you are not struggling but want to be as successful as possible—get professional help. It may be one of the best investments of time, money and effort you ever make.



• Especially if you are a professional, get professional help. It is a competitive world out there. A career management coach can help you bring out the best in yourself and release your inner creativity. A coach can help you market yourself better and produce a resume that will stand out and get you called in. A coach can also act as a shoulder to lean on when you are down and out.

Business Valuations

I gave a business valuation webinar the other day for ExecSense.com.

Speaker: Joshua Persky 

Media: Audio, PowerPoint, Computer, iPod, Mobile Phone, Printed Out  

ISBN: 1291

Price: $250.00

http://www.execsense.com/details.asp?id=767

The webinar is led by Joshua Persky, an expert at helping corporate/M&A lawyers understand the most up-to-date valuation methodologies and the subsequent legal issues, and focuses on: 

• Everything you need to know in 60 minutes about interpreting and analyzing valuation methodologies.

• Step-by-step explanation of the main valuation methods (discounted cash flow, market value, earnings multiple valuation and assets), including a discussion of the pros and cons of each method in different circumstances.

• Comprehensive analysis focusing on how to interpret and analyze different valuation methodologies in the context of valuing a target company, intangible assets, an early-stage business and a distressed company.

Please let me know if you would like me to give a business valuations presentation to you, your company or your organization.

Job Hunting Tips

After I started working, I did not have time to speak with Paloma as frequently as before, but she remained my confidant and career coach—and I kept her updated with my activities and relationships at work.

As she had advised me, finding a job was not the end of her work as my coach or the end of my quest—it was just another step along the way. I still had to manage my career.

In fact, when I told Paloma that Cindy Perman wanted to interview me for a job-hunting tips article for CNBC.com, I asked for her advice. After all, she was the professional job-hunting expert, not I.

Paloma got her wheels turning and sent me an email summarizing what had taken place over the course of my unemployment.

First was the job termination. I had always depended on my network and my family’s network to obtain jobs in the past. However, my previous network had not been effective this time. I thought the search would not take a long time. Time marched on and on and finances became problematic. I had bills to pay and the responsibility to support a wife and children.

The old ways were not working as well as before. Networks were drying up. People were worried about their own family’s needs. It took you almost a year to become re-employed—and this is the new rule, not the exception.

Cindy (my wife) and I decided to cut our expenses and provide security for her and the children. Our plan was for me to stay in New York while she moved back home with her parents. Our last hurrah together was to have a small dinner out. We brainstormed. What haven’t we done? What would help me get recognition from outside our standard network? Thus, the Sandwich Board Guy was born. I did not plan on it being a lengthy career move. I just wanted to hand out my resume and get a few new leads. It was a cry for help.

You have got to try something new to increase other people’s awareness of your needs. You have got to brainstorm for ideas that will help bring your cause and need into the market in a fresh way. It did not get you a job but it did get you a job coach.

My wife and children left for Omaha and I felt a loss, but also maybe I was relieved that my expenses and needs were lessened. Time was still a problem. I received some publicity—great!—but no job. I cut my expenses and conserved my financial resources but still needed an income. I became famous but remained unemployed. I moved in with my sister. My sister and her family provided me with food, shelter and emotional support. If not for her, I could not have stayed in the area where Cindy and I wanted to live. I would not have been available for interviews in New York City, and I would not have gotten my job at Weiser LLP.

You have got to lessen your financial drain. Barter, negotiate, find a second stream of income, lessen your obligations and increase your security by tapping into your family and extended family. It is difficult for families to give financial support, but most families can help by taking in one or more family members and sharing resources directly. Everyone can assist if they only have to increase their utility bills and food budget marginally to take in one or two family members—while the bread-winners hunt for jobs.

Then there was the professional coach. Paloma Bowland worked as a career coach and business strategist. She had read my story, watched it on television, read my blog and recognized I was becoming a poster guy for all that wrong with America and the lack of support for people out of work. My image and story resonated with the Great Recession and hinted at the Great Depression. I elicited sympathy from around the world but not much from the good old USA. Everyone figured it was someone else’s responsibility and few rose to the challenge. Some people took my resume and tried to help, but time marched on. Paloma was relatively late getting to my story since she had recently moved and was busy writing a book. She examined my resume. That was the most obvious starting place.

If you are a professional, get professional help. Hire someone to analyze and re-write your resume. Writers do more than make sure it is grammatically correct. This is your image, your first impression. Make it as good as can be—the best. Get a career coach, someone who holds your feet to the fire. Find someone who motivates you and can see the obvious when you are standing too close to the picture. If you truly cannot afford to hire someone, turn to the Internet and books from the library. Some web sites are offered free of charge—and blogs have realms of good information on the process and what to do.

We did an assessment of strengths. Paloma conferred on me Sterling Bateman’s mantra, “I can make you money. I can save you money. I can solve your problems.” She told me everything should be tested against that. Employers want to know what you can do for them.

Once you have done an assessment, rewrite your resume in a transferable skills format and think along those lines when you speak with potential employers. Be able to answer the questions, “How can I make you money? How can I save you money? How can I solve your problems? Why should I hire you as opposed to the thousands of people who want this job?”

Next we focused on my blog. It said Oracle of NY but read more like Poster Guy of What’s Wrong. It was a continual reminder of what was not working. It did not showcase my career or what I personally brought to the table. After I gave my blog a makeover, Forbes.com was impressed with my writing and the blog’s professional look. An executive recruiter was impressed with my skill-set, primarily my writing skills which had not been showcased before. A potential employer was pleased with my resume, experience and professional approach to the information I posted.

Link all your networking to your blog. Make sure the blog is a continual showcase of your talent and ability and reflects what an employer would get if they hired you.

I shifted my job-search paradigm and accepted that I needed a career for a lifetime. The paradigm shift was thinking in terms of continual career management not just filling an immediate need for a job.

Think in terms of career! Take back your career! Manage your career! Adjust your strategy to reflect that you are in control. You are the CEO of Me, Inc. You do things differently when you look at the big picture.

We reconsidered the importance of networking.

Keep people engaged in helping you. The best advice is that it is not the amount of contacts you have but the quality of network you have in place. Offer to help your contacts. Serve others. If needs be, remind people how you used your resources to help them with their needs.

Another missing piece of the puzzle was to be better organized. Most people have their search information scattered as I did in several locations and in multiple formats.

Get organized. Put all your information to work for you in one place that is accessible no matter where you are, such as JibberJobber.com. It also has a blog to give professional points, keep people informed of the most current research on career management and lists tips from top professional resume writers, coaches and recruiters.

The rest, so they say, is history.

It took time and effort. It took working on my finances and lessening my obligations—getting help from family—brainstorming creative approaches to getting noticed—getting professional help in order to understand my assets and present them—networking through friends and family, blogs, social networking sites and professional organizations—and having one place to focus everything together.

It was also about hope and keeping my spirits up. I recalled the few really down days when my well-wishers and Paloma renewed my energy—and I went out to slay the dragons again.

You are limited by time and strength but must get through the marathon. Hope and faith will get you through.

“It’s been quite a ride so far,” Paloma said to me. “Since you have become a friend and work associate, we will have more endeavors in the future. This is how valuable the quality of a network becomes, rather than the quantity of a network.”And that is the value of a professional career strategist like Paloma!

Happy Ending Holiday Story

On December 1, 2008, I started working at Weiser LLP—and the media went wild. The New York Times and New York Post published splendid articles (i.e. “Better Sign Of Times, From Sandwich Board To Dream Job” – New York Post) and dozens of other media outlets quickly followed suit.

New York magazine came out with a humorous article “The Recession is Over!” and cited the number one reason as “Joshua Persky…got a job!”

Fortunately, there was a savvy Chief Marketing Officer at Weiser who helped me prevent my media attention from becoming too much of a circus or a distraction from work. I loved the attention and would have spent as much time as I could telling my story to the media, but I also understood that the established and respected firm had to protect its reputation and not let the publicity get out of control.

My supervisor accompanied me on all my major interviews, helping me host the New York Post, Inside Edition, WPIX and others at the office—and joining me for interviews at the studios of CNN, MSNBC and Reuters.

We had a fun and exciting honeymoon, including an in-depth lunch-time interview with Erika Hayasaki of the Los Angeles Times at a local sushi restaurant.

After a couple of weeks of exciting interviews, we started toning things down and refused any further interviews at the office or during work hours.

I was extremely disappointed about having to turn down major international television networks from Japan, Taiwan, and Brazil who wanted to interview me at the office and share my inspirational story with their viewers—but I understood I was being paid to do business valuations and had to focus on my work.

Nevertheless, I still received many telephone calls from journalists and spoke freely about my job-hunting experience.

As the holidays drew closer, my story became a happy ending holiday success story and instead of subsiding, my media attention soared to new heights.

Curtis Silwa and Steve Scott called for live radio interviews. Forbes.com featured me in an article called "Extreme Job Hunting," and Cindy Perman published a break-through article for CNBC.com, "6 Job-Hunting Tips From the 'Sandwich Board' Guy."

My iconic image popped up in newspapers, on television and on popular Internet sites all over the world.

My picture was even included in the Wall Street Journal’s “2008 Year in Pictures (Financial Crash),” as part of 20/20’s “2008 Year in Review (Greed Gone Wild)” and was noted as the New York Post’s number two viewed story of the year—ahead of scandalous stories about Elliot Spitzer, David Letterman and Marilyn Monroe!

PRWeek cited me as number two among the year’s “10 PR stunts that would make PT Barnum proud.”

I even got a call from a Hollywood movie agent asking if I was interested in creating a movie adaptation of my inspirational story.

When I had been unemployed and famous, most of the emails and calls I had received were full of encouragement.

After I had started working and had a second round of publicity, many of the emails and calls I received were congratulatory—but many were also from people asking for job-hunting advice.

Whereas before finding a job, I was the go-to unemployed sandwich board guy, after finding a job, I became the go-to how to get your dream job guy.

The Sandwich Board Guy Gets Weiser

Unbelievably, while I was on the way to Yokohama, Richelle Konian emailed me that I had received the green light from Weiser LLP. I accepted the offer via email and signed the Offer Letter when I returned to New York.

I was ecstatic, my wife and sister and the rest of my family were ecstatic, and Paloma Bowland put one more notch on the handle of her gun.

My wife and I were ecstatic because although many challenges still lay ahead, we could start rebuilding our lives and making plans for a future under one roof.

My sister and her family were ecstatic because after doing a great deed by sheltering me for three months, they could have their privacy back. Yet, I knew their dog Skipper would miss me.

The rest of my family was ecstatic because I had prevailed and would become financially independent again.

Paloma was ecstatic because of all of the above and more. She knew that this was the beginning of our relationship and not an end. “Now that you’ve found a job,” she told me, “You have to start managing your career.”

A couple of weeks after returning from Yokohama and accepting the job at Weiser LLP, I moved out of my sister’s house and back to Manhattan—and then I flew to Omaha for a real Thanksgiving celebration.

I also brought my wife and children their winter clothes which had been in storage since the end of June.

At last, Cindy and I had a happy ending in sight after what had been a very difficult year.

As my Grandpa Victor used to say, “Making a living is as difficult as parting the Red Sea.”

Well, the Red Sea had split wide open—and I was crossing over to the Promised Land.

Inspiration

I am still trying to come to terms with what I saw and experienced in Yokohama. Dr. Okuno hosted me with the greatest hospitality and generosity, even while he operated on patients twelve hours a day.

His medical practice, a combination of science, technology, research and art, impressed me beyond words. I watched as he introduced a scope into the veins of a middle-aged woman and sprayed multiple malignant cancerous tumors with a cocktail of cancer-fighting agents. The tumors shrank within hours.

Patients who entered his clinic with excruciating pain and little hope, left without pain—and with renewed hope.

With one treatment, Dr. Okuno saved a person’s life—and with two or three treatments, he saved his patient’s quality of life.

That was his main goal. Dr. Okuno was so brilliant and so humble, he would not even admit he cured cancer or saved lives. He only admitted to helping cancer sufferers improve their quality of life.

If I had been on my own, without a family, I doubt I would have returned from Yokohama.

However, when I sat with Dr. Okuno and his counselor Takahashi to discuss business, I asked for more than I would require from an employer in the United States. Cindy and I had agreed that if we were going to move abroad, we would only do so if we could put money in the bank. I did not want to live and work in Yokohama with the possibility of finishing the year with little or no savings. Yokohama was not as expensive as Tokyo, but we wanted to put our children in private international schools which were very expensive, and we wanted to be able to visit the USA at least twice during the year.

I told Dr. Okuno that if was going to move my family to Yokohama, I would need a salary—plus all expenses paid.

Dr. Okuno told me that Clinica E.T. functioned on a budget and could not hire me on those terms. Both the doctor and I were disappointed we could not reach an agreement, but I had the feeling my visit with Dr. Okuno would not be the end of our relationship but the beginning.

Actualization

Interestingly, once I had taken my career coach’s advice and was putting more effort into my job applications, interview preparations and follow up, had rewritten my resume in a transferable skills format and had unified my social networking profiles and public communications, good things started to happen.

I felt better about myself—and the people with whom I communicated felt better about me. I was able to move forward and incubate two fantastic opportunities.

Suddenly, an executive recruiter was as excited as could be about getting me in front of a hiring manager and actually followed through. Richelle Konian, co-founder of Careers On The Move, had followed my story—saw my resume, blog and LinkedIn profile—and put my resume on top of the stack.

When she asked me if I was interested in a Senior Manager of Valuation and Corporate Finance position with a large accounting firm in midtown Manhattan, I was more than enthusiastic.

Nevertheless, I tried to prevent myself from getting my hopes up too high. I had suffered too many disappointments since becoming unemployed.

Rochelle was extremely encouraging from the beginning and seemed to have little doubt during the entire hiring process, including several rounds of interviews, that I would get the job.

Simultaneously, my communications with Dr. Okuno became more focused and his invitation to host me for a week in Yokohama materialized. I was extremely intrigued by Dr. Okuno’s research, the possibility of contributing to the fight against cancer and taking a trip to Yokohama—yet, I had many questions and practical considerations.

Was I really qualified to help Dr. Okuno publicize his endovascular therapy research and disseminate his tumor-destroying techniques internationally? Could I effectively help him build a new and larger clinic and research facility in Japan? Was it feasible to move to Yokohama with my wife and children? Could Dr. Okuno really make my efforts worth my while?

After much deliberation, even with all my questions and doubts, I decided to go for the journey. At worst, it would be a great adventure.

Creativity, Bravery and Integrity

After we had worked on interviewing strategies and my transformational resume, Paloma’s next advice to me was to identify my brand—and to professionalize and unify my blog, social networking profiles and all my public and professional communications.

Identifying my brand was not too difficult. People from all over the world, including Paloma, had emailed me telling me that they admired my creativity, bravery and integrity—so that became my identifiable brand. I began infusing all my communications with creativity, bravery, and integrity.

Unifying and professionalizing my blog, Facebook and LinkedIn profiles did not require a tremendous amount of effort either.

I had started my blog in order to keep in touch with people from all over the world, document my job search and post my resume. I was not exactly sure in which direction I was ultimately going to take it, but I knew I wanted it to help me find a job.

It did not take much effort to be sensitive and professional about what I posted—and to keep the site focused on my job-hunting efforts.

I had signed onto Facebook when my children had invited me to be their friend. How could I refuse? I had not considered it a public forum or a platform for finding or preventing me from finding a job, but with Paloma’s advice, I started to regard Facebook not only as a personal site for keeping up with my children or as a free-for-all social networking site—as most people seemed to regard it—but as part of my professional platform.

I certainly regarded LinkedIn as a professional platform, but I did not have a complete profile and did not fully understand how to best utilize it to find a job or enhance my career.

As I cleaned up and unified my profiles and online communications, I always kept in mind that my main goal was to find a job. Anything that would interfere with my chances of finding a job was not good and was omitted or deleted, and anything that added to my chances of finding a job was posted and retained.

One of the simplest techniques I used to give my new resume, blog and social networking profiles a professional and cohesive look was to post the same business-like photograph on all of them. My profile pictures had been too casual.

My wife Cindy is a photographer, so getting a high-quality digital portrait was easy. Otherwise, I would have gone to the nearest passport photo service which could supply me with an electronic image.

Once I had streamlined my online presence and had instilled my personal brand of creativity, bravery, and integrity in all my public communications, I felt as though I had an effective marketing campaign working in my favor. My professional image was sharpened, and I was transformed into an easily recognizable brand.

Transformation

Once we had spoken about the interview process, Paloma advised me to rewrite my resume in a non-chronological transferable skills format.

“Oh no, not again,” I thought. I had reformatted my resume countless times before.

“All my skills are transferable,” I told Paloma, “but nobody seems to understand that. They want people with the exact experience and skill set for the job description.”

“That is exactly why you have to make a non-chronological transferable skills resume,” she responded.

I was initially resistant but Paloma was insistent. She said it would help me find a job—and did not stop telling me so.

I spent several days on the first draft of my transferable skills resume and by time I was finished, I was transformed. It was my a-ha moment when my resume, job search, career management and self-perception in general turned from black-and-white to color.

If I had been reluctant to take my self-appointed career coach’s advice before, after writing my new non-chronological transferable skills resume, I was hooked by Paloma’s charisma, intelligence and determination—and by what I quickly coined as the Paloma Method.

What would I have done without my coach? Would I have gotten my job at a midtown accounting firm? Would I have ended up somewhere else? Would I still be unemployed?

When I asked Paloma why she had reached out to me, she did not hesitate to answer, “I followed your story and could not believe that after all your publicity, you could still not find a job. I could not believe that no one was helping you. This is America! I knew that I could help you, so I contacted you.”

She also told me that if my integrity had not shined through my sign board story and had not been reaffirmed by her conversations with me, she would not have given me fifteen seconds of her time.

“Character is not something that can be taught,” she said.

The Mantra and the Promise

As I had a couple of interviews coming up, my self-appointed career coach started advising me on how to prepare for interviews and how to follow up.

She convinced me I needed to put much more effort into preparation and much more effort into following up after my interview. I had been so busy applying to as many jobs as I could, I was not preparing as well as I could or following up as much as I should for the most relevant leads. If I did not get a response from one or two calls or emails, I usually let the lead slide and that was the end of it.

With most of my resume submissions and job applications, I was not even including a cover letter—or if I did, it was brief and generic.

Paloma advised me to take a more targeted and custom-made approach. Every communication, especially the first contact with each potential employer had to be fresh, personalized and effective.

I was used to doing some preliminary research about the companies and people I contacted, but I did not take the time to apply what I learned in crafting a position-specific resume and cover letter.

I was also not following up appropriately—and that is where a little additional effort can make a huge amount of difference.

Paloma advised me to think hard and long about each company to which I applied and explain to them how I could contribute to their success.

“There are only three things that your potential employer wants to hear,” she told me. “How you can make them money, how you can save them money and how you can solve their problems. If you can tell them that—I promise they will hire you.”

She told me to keep those three things in mind in all my communications—and promised I would find a job. “That is the mantra,” she said. ”I can make you money. I can save you money. I can solve your problems.”

Career Management

According to Paloma’s email, she had read my story in the New York Times, was a career coach and promoted a web site for career management called JibberJobber.com. She asked me to take a look at the web site and tell her what I thought.

I took a quick look at JibberJobber.com, liked what I saw and also noticed that the founder of the site Jason Alba had written a book I’m on LinkedIn Now What???

I was on LinkedIn and making occasional connections, but I wondered if there was a better way to use the professional networking site to find a job.

I responded to Paloma, and she sent me a page of tips concerning LinkedIn, inquired how my job search was going and told me I had to start managing my career. “Shift your thinking from job search to career management,” she wrote. When you change your thought process, you change your strategies. You are in control of managing a long-term endeavor, not merely a job replacement. When you accept this paradigm shift, it resonates in your interview sessions.”

Over my lifetime, my MIT degree and family connections have opened doors for me. I was fortunate enough to have a succession of higher and higher paying jobs—but I never had a career. I rode a roller coaster of challenging new jobs and eventual disappointments and was lucky that after each sharp decent, there was a swift and dynamic ascent. However, I never had a long-term career goal. If anything, I was an expert at changing careers.

Manage my career?

After nine months of unemployment, including over two months of international fame, the concept resonated strongly within me. Career management was certainly something I had not accomplished for myself and with which I could sorely use help.

Paloma suggested I use JibberJobber.com as a database to organize my contact information, so I signed on and started entering the information regarding my new contacts and active leads. I mentioned to Paloma that I wished someone would help me type in my entire shopping bag full of contact information—because the task was too daunting for me—and Paloma immediately offered to help.

Paloma and I started corresponding by email regularly and then we started talking daily on the telephone. Paloma said she was determined not only to help me find a job,  so that I could get back on my feet and reunite my family, but she said she would also help me take control of my career.

Famous for Being Unemployed

On the verge of desperation, I got inspired and tried something different. I went out to the corner of 50th Street and Park Avenue wearing a sign board advertising my search and contact information. I thought I would hand out some resumes and generate a few new leads.

Once my story and image went viral, it took me hours to sort through the flashflood of calls and emails. Most of the people who contacted me were well-wishers offering prayers and encouragement, but I also was contacted by many people with relevant job leads. Some of the people whom I met on the street also sincerely tried to help me find a job.

Suddenly, as a result of my sign board publicity, I had dozens of calls to return and half a dozen meetings on my calendar.

As the summer progressed and my fame spread, I had many interesting conversations and meetings—and I came close to landing several exciting jobs.

Furthermore, the media loved my story and instead of my publicity flaring up and flaming out just as fast, every time I thought it was over, I would get a call from a major television network, radio show or newspaper requesting another interview.

Each time I thought my fifteen minutes of fame had come and gone, my picture would suddenly and unexpectedly pop up on the main page of Yahoo.com, CNBC.com or CNN.com.

I could tell when something was up, because my cell phone would go into convulsions, and I would get a flurry of emails from people telling me where they had seen my picture and wishing me good luck finding a job.

When I was interviewed on Fox and Friends, Fox Business, MSNBC and CNN, the newscasters all touched me with their warmth and sincerity and said they wanted to help me find a job. They didn’t make promises but strongly hinted that I would find a job within hours or days as a result of their interview—and told me to keep in touch with them to let them know how things turned out.

I was overwhelmed by their concern and efforts, and my expectations soared with each exciting interview.

As a result of the publicity, I received hundreds of calls and emails—but a job offer remained elusive. I had everything going for me—including the help of major television networks, newspapers and popular Internet sites—but I couldn’t make anything happen.

Was I jinxed?

Then I received an email from Paloma Bowland.

Photography - and Private Lessons for Children and Adults

A Convenient Time to Meet

As part of my networking efforts, whenever I could, I tried to meet with people. That was my goal, as I knew it was the most effective way to find a job. Whenever I contacted people, whether by email or telephone, I asked, “When is a convenient time to meet?”

It is amazing how difficult it can be to arrange a simple meeting. Some people seem to always have time for meetings, but most people are so busy, they barely ever have time for even a single meeting, spontaneous or not. I arranged meetings whenever I could, but often it took weeks or even months to find a convenient time—if my contact was willing to meet at all.

I also attended professional networking events and presentations sponsored by the International Association of Financial Engineers (IAFE), Professional Risk Managers International Association (PRMIA) and the MIT Sloan Club of New York.

The presentations and panels were usually interesting, but sometimes I just did not speak with anyone other than the person sitting next to me.

At successful events, however, I had captivating conversations with at least several small groups of people over wine and cheese and went home with half a dozen or more business cards and plenty of follow-up work for the next day.

I thought I was doing all the right things—networking, making calls and sending out hundreds of resumes—but I still could not find a job.

Nyetworking

In addition to my online efforts, I tried to call at least several people every day—and my shopping bag full of contact information I had collected over the years was a great resource. It usually took a bit longer than planned to find anything specific for which I was looking, but after sifting though a stack of old emails or a rubber-banded pile of business cards, I could usually locate the sought after name and telephone number.

More often than not, I would just sift through the organized chaos, pulling out the names and numbers of people whom I thought it might be worth calling.

In retrospect, I wish I had been more disciplined about organizing and recording my collection of contact information.

To supplement my own online and calling initiatives, I also networked regularly over the telephone. My family, especially my mother, supplied me with new leads on an almost daily basis—and those leads often started with a friendly call which was a lot more pleasant than making a cold call.

When I made cold calls, I usually ended up hearing a recorded message, and when I did get to speak with the person I was trying to reach—or more often than not, with their assistant—they would invariably tell me to email my resume. I would actually feel great hearing that, as if they were telling me they would give me some consideration—but I did not get any better results from the resumes I forwarded after cold calls, than from the resumes I launched coldly into cyberspace.

Lost in Cyberspace

When I had lost my job at Houlihan Lokey, I thought I had known exactly what to do—and that’s what I did. I updated my resume, signed on to numerous job search boards, compiled lists of companies to contact and took out my shopping bag full of business cards, old emails, notebooks and pieces of scrap paper containing the contact information of professional colleagues and acquaintances.

I had been through the job-hunting routine before—and although it had never been an easy process—I had always managed to succeed on my own or with a little help from my family and friends.

I did not think there was anything new anyone could tell me about how to find a job. My resume was strong. I knew I had to network among family, friends and professional peers. I was not completely comfortable making cold calls, but I knew it had to be done and was actually pretty successful at engaging potential employers once I had them on the line. I was not at all comfortable leaving telephone messages for complete strangers—but that is how cold calls often start out.

On the other hand, I was completely comfortable sending emails to anyone and everyone—and I knew it was a numbers game. The more people I could get to look at my resume, the better my chances of finding a job.

Although I disliked having to retype my personal information for each different job site and online application, it was still an efficient way to find leads and apply for jobs. On some sites, I could apply to job after job with a few clicks of the mouse.

On a typical day, I would do some research and apply to half a dozen targeted jobs online, but sometimes I would get enthused and blindly apply to a dozen jobs of all sorts with a last minute, end of the day flurry of emails and online activity.

I knew I would be lucky to get one response out of a hundred emails and virtual applications, but I kept trying—and I usually got that one response. Even if my applications for specific jobs were not fully targeted, I sometimes got responses and established new relationships with recruiters or potential employers after forwarding my resume or applying for a position online.

Nevertheless, ninety-nine percent of my emailed resumes and online job applications seemed to evaporate into cyberspace. Even when I applied to highly relevant jobs on the job board of my alma mater, the MIT Sloan Alumni Job Board, I rarely received a response. I was excited about the positions and had the required experience—but no one ever seemed to be on the receiving side of my emails and online applications or be available to speak when I called.

ScanBizCards - iPhone App

I've jumped on the iPhone applications bandwagon and am promoting an app that lets you conveniently scan business cards with your iPhone - ScanBizCards. We're getting lots of downloads a day for the free version and are moving up the ranks in the iTunes Store. We are looking for further publicity and advertising partners.

Unlike competing iPhone business card scanning applications:

• ScanBizCards is the only iPhone business card scanning application offering a free version that lets you try the core functionality before you decide to upgrade.
• ScanBizCards acknowledges that OCR is not perfect, so the image of the business card is always displayed side-by-side with the textual information to facilitate editing.
• Cards scanned by ScanBizCards have one-touch accelerators which can be used to instantly place calls, send emails, browse web sites, invite contacts to connect via LinkedIn and send follow-up reminders to your calendar.

ScanBizCards is better than a dedicated scanner:

• ScanBizCards does not have to be connected to a PC when you photograph/scan cards.
• ScanBizCards interfaces instantly with not just your address book but also with your email, calendar, iPhone and browser.
• ScanBizCards can instantly send a LinkedIn invitation.
• ScanBizCards costs $4.99 versus $60 to $300 for a dedicated business card scanner.
• New and useful features are added at no cost.

If you have an iPhone and collect lots of business cards, ScanBizCards is a great utility.

www.scanbizcards.com

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/scanbizcards/id335047649?mt=8
 
Contact: Patrick Questembert
patrick@scanbizcards.com
917 250 4177
 
Joshua Persky
Joshua.persky@sloan.mit.edu
917 650 8700

Hello, It’s Paloma

I have changed careers several times during my life, and it usually took only a few months to find a new job even in a new field of work. However, this time, something was different. Nothing seemed to be working. Over six months had gone by, and I was still unemployed. Not only that, but I was world-famous, and I was still unemployed. What was my problem? What was I doing wrong?

I did not seek professional help while I was unemployed, but I am sure grateful that a professional career coach contacted me.

In response to my publicity, a couple of professional career counselors and resume writers had emailed to say that they could help me find a job. I had tried working with one in the city, but he had been pressed for time and after an energetic initial meeting, neither of us had followed through.

However, Paloma Bowland—a career management coach and business strategist working with JibberJobber.com—was different. She sent me an email telling me about her career management site and then called to tell me what to do. She must have done something right, and I must have needed help, because as the summer progressed, I found myself in daily telephone contact with her, changed my job-hunting paradigm, went through a transformational experience—and found a job.

When Paloma called, she told me she would not only help me find a job but would also help me take charge of my career.

First, she gave me numerous tips on conducting and managing interviews. Next, she convinced me to do a thoughtful self-evaluation and revise my resume. Then she told me to clean up and reorganize my blog, coordinate it with my LinkedIn and Facebook profiles and write newspaper articles.

When I found a job and started working again, Paloma insisted our work was not over—it had only just begun.

Every suggestion she made was a chore and a learning process of self-discovery, but I quickly began to feel a difference, a transformation—a renewed sense of self-confidence and self-esteem. She also gave me plenty of psychological support, helping me remain focused and move forward even when I was feeling down.

Almost immediately after I had revised my resume and developed a new outlook, good things started happening. Not only did I get more positive feedback than before, but I felt much better about myself and was able to start turning job possibilities into solid offers.

Lesson Learned—Be Open to Change!

• When looking for a job, especially in economically challenging times, it helps to be open to change. Perhaps, you will have to do something else, somewhere else, at least for a while in order to survive. You may also be pleasantly surprised where an opportunity may lead you, equally in terms of what kind of work you do, where you do it and whom you meet.

• By being open to change, I found myself investigating many different career opportunities in various locations—so my chances of finding a job increased significantly. It was only by fate that I eventually found a job in my own field and in my own back yard.

• Although you may envision a career as a straight path, it is sometimes necessary and can even be beneficial to take a detour. In a world that is changing faster than a chameleon changes color—and where company and worker loyalty is a thing of the past—it is best not to limit yourself to your own perception of what you think you do—or to limit yourself to other people’s perceptions of what you have already done. You may want to focus on your chosen field, familiar role, core or most recent experience, but you should also consider other possibilities and figure out how you can transfer your skills to a new role.

• When you are unemployed—and even when you are employed—it is worth considering each and every job opportunity. You never know what you may learn, whom you may meet or which door may lead to your ultimate success.

• When searching for a job, you have to be open to change of career, location and people. It is a great time to explore other possibilities, such as starting your own business. At least, ask yourself if you are really satisfied with your job? What is your fantasy job? Is there something else you would rather be doing or that you could possibly do? Is there somewhere else you would rather be living or that you could possibly live?

• Being open to change is not only about being prepared and willing to change your career or move to a new location for the sake of employment, but it also means adjusting to a changing world, being able to adapt the way you live to new circumstances and letting new people into your life.

• When looking for a job, especially during an economic downturn, you have to be patient. It takes time to find leads and follow up on leads. It takes time to arrange interviews and takes time to get answers. It can take a lot longer than you planned to find a job.

• I know it’s difficult to be patient when you are standing in the cold rain without an umbrella. I’ve been there. You have to keep in mind that the storm will pass and the sun will come out tomorrow—or even more importantly—that the sun is always shining above the clouds.

• Don’t take non-responsiveness or rejection personally. Be patient, be persistent and be professional!

Recycle Yourself and Start a New Life

Although I had no idea when the subprime mortgage problem surfaced in the summer of 2007 that it would lead to a global economic crisis, I was close enough to the news to know that when Bear Stearns collapsed, the rules of the game had changed.

I knew that something profound was happening and that if I were going to find a job in New York City, it would take a tremendous effort and a lot of luck. I also was keenly aware of the changes that had taken place in New York City since 9/11. 

Before 9/11, when someone was having a tough time finding a job in the city or was determined to get their foot in the door at a specific company, they could go knocking on doors. They could show up at the main office, chat with the receptionist, camp out, market themselves to any executive they might meet and beg for a job until they were hired or escorted out the door.

Many people in New York City found employment that way as interns, assistants, apprentices or in the mail room. If someone had the skills and determination, they could work their way up.

Subsequent to 9/11, because of security considerations, it was nearly impossible to get inside an office building in New York City unless you were expected—and that is one of the main reasons I decided to hand out resumes on Park Avenue. It was no longer possible to go knocking on doors in the city. How else could I reach out in person to the people who worked at the companies where I wanted to work?

Much of my creative inspiration was due to a specific change that had taken place in the environment. I accepted that change and sensed I had to do something different.

When Cindy and I realized we had to leave our apartment, we did not get choked up or plot to stay until we were evicted. We sucked it up and got ready for change—as painful as it was.

Cindy moved to Omaha with the little ones, and I borrowed enough money to survive for a couple more months in the city while looking for a job and hosting my older children.

At the end of August, when I moved in with my sister’s family in Larchmont, I again adjusted to an entirely new environment.

From the day I was let go from Houlihan Lokey, my life was in constant flux—but I did my best to adjust accordingly.

Another significant change I made was to let Paloma Bowland—a professional career coach—into my life. I had not considered getting professional help on my own and had been called by many people who said they could help me or wanted to take advantage of my desperation, so when she called, I was as skeptical as could be.

Opening yourself to new people, especially when you are down and out, is not easy, but sometimes it can transform the course of your life. I thought I was open to change before I started working with Paloma, but she helped me change the very core of my approach to finding a job and managing my career, while helping me renew my self-esteem and bring out my true colors.

Clinica E.T.

When I saw the international area code for Japan on my cell phone, I hoped it was Dr. Tetsuji Okuno—and it was.

It was difficult for him to fully express himself in English, but his tone was so sincere, he touched my heart and convinced me to visit him.

When I brought up all the practical considerations of moving my family to Yokohama, he told me it was all possible—and we should discuss the details in person.

A few days later, I received an email from Dr. Okuno saying that his colleague Mr. Shinro Takahashi would be visiting New York in the middle of October—and that I should accompany him back to Japan at the end of October. I could meet Dr. Okuno, learn about his cancer research and treatment clinic Clinica E.T., discuss his plans for international expansion and come to an agreement regarding my terms of employment.

I was overwhelmed by the invitation and started to imagine a new life in Yokohama and a new career in health care management. Health care was one of the industries least affected by the global economic crisis—and helping in the fight against cancer was a great motivation. Using the Internet, I started to learn as much as I could about endovascular therapy and anti-angiogenesis.

Although most of my family thought I was out of my mind, my career coach Paloma Bowland thought it was a great opportunity. “Unfortunately,” she said, “cancer treatment and cancer research are a growing market.” She suggested that if I were truly looking for job stability in the coming years of economic challenge, I should give the opportunity some serious thought.

My father was also encouraging. He believed living abroad would be educational for the children. He also recalled the wonderful night he had spent in Yokohama when he was in the army. He had been drafted into the Korean War and dispatched to the Philippines. After two weeks at sea, his ship had landed in the port of Yokohama and all the soldiers had gone on shore leave for some much needed rest and relaxation. For the equivalent of fifty cents, he had enjoyed a fine cut of Kobe beef and a tall glass of Kirin beer. After two weeks of unsavory sea rations, he had been more than pleased. “In fact,” he said. “It is one of my fondest memories of the war.”

Somewhat coincidently, my in-laws’ neighbor in Omaha—Sam Cohen—was a world-renowned cancer research specialist who frequently visited Japan.

I gave him a call—and after doing a little research, he told me that Dr. Okuno had a good reputation and successful clinic but was also considered somewhat of a maverick. He had left the mainstream medical community to follow his own path of research and treatment. Only time would tell whether his work would be dismissed—or if he would be recognized as a genius and win a Noble Prize.

That was confirmation enough for me. The more I thought about it, the more I was intrigued and wanted to accept Dr. Okuno’s invitation. At worst it would be an adventurous journey to the other side of the world. At best, it would be the opportunity of a lifetime.

After much introspection, I wrote to Dr. Okuno, accepted his invitation and asked for a more firm itinerary.

No sooner had I accepted Dr. Okuno’s invitation, when I received a call from Richelle Konian, an executive recruiter with whom I had been in touch for over five years. We had been emailing each other regularly over the course of the summer, starting a couple of months before my sign board publicity. She said she had an opportunity for me in the valuations group at a large midtown accounting firm.

When I expressed strong interest, she said she would forward my resume and told me I should expect an interview with the hiring manager. She said she had enjoyed my publicity and blog—and the hiring manager was looking for someone who could write. “I think it’s a perfect match,” she said.

It’s amazing how events sometimes unfold.

A few days later, I had an encouraging interview with the Director of Valuation and Corporate Finance at a large New York accounting firm—and simultaneously firmed up my plans to visit Dr. Okuno in Yokohama at the end of October.

I did not tell the valuations director or executive recruiter about my planned trip to Japan—or tell Dr. Okuno about my job possibility in New York, because I did not know which, if either, would work out. Both opportunities seemed fantastic.

The Human Factor

In the meantime, my Sandwich Board Guy picture and story continued to spread internationally, especially in France, Germany, Italy, India, Hong Kong and China.

More and more international journalists called me for interviews—and a new flood of emails poured in from around the world.

People started telling me how great things were in China, Taiwan, Korea, India, Bangladesh, Indonesia and Malaysia.

“Come here and teach English at the university,” they wrote. “Come here, and you will find a job.”

I even received emails from several expatriate Americans describing how wonderful it was to live and work in Shanghai.

Students and unemployed people started reaching out to me for personal advice. “Should I study finance or is that no longer practical?” “Should I put on a sandwich board like you did?”

I was also asked for economic, financial and business analysis, including a request to write an article about who might succeed Warren Buffet at the helm of Berkshire Hathaway and a request to write an article about corporate governance in light of the global economic crisis.

Both articles were subsequently published in prominent Indian business journals—Business & Economy and The Human Factor, respectively.

Several journalists asked me for political analysis. “How do you think the upcoming elections will affect the economy?” “Will you vote for Obama or McCain?”

I was truly becoming a Sign of the Times and the Face of the American Economy—but where in the world was I going to end up?

Shock and Awe on Wall Street

As a result of the Lehman Brothers collapse, the economic environment went from bleak to disastrous. I pretty much gave up on finding a job in the United States and started aggressively pursuing opportunities abroad.

I was soon in touch with a financier from Hong Kong, the Dutch CEO of an international furniture company, the British CEO of an international car parts company, and a Japanese doctor who ran an innovative cancer treatment and research clinic in Yokohama.

The doctor was so convinced that I was the person to help him manage his clinic and spread his research and techniques throughout the world, he said he would fly me to Japan to meet with him.

All of these people told me they had felt compelled to contact me after seeing my picture in the newspaper, on television or on the Internet.

I had already left New York City, would I soon be leaving the United States?

My wife and I discussed the matter and decide we would be willing to relocate abroad for a year or two for the right opportunity—if we could put money in the bank. Many times, if an American company sends someone abroad—or if a foreign company lures someone abroad—they pay for housing and many other living expenses, so the employee can save much of their salary.

Cindy was not very excited about having me pursue an opportunity in Hong Kong or Yokohama as they were on the other side of the world and it would be difficult for her to visit her parents and grandparents in Omaha.

On the other hand, she felt that London or Amsterdam might be viable as long as housing and other major expenses, such as international schools for the children, were covered by the employer.

The Hong Kong financier who contacted me said he helped American companies set up businesses, market products and invest in China. He called from Hong Kong several times, emailed me questions about the global economy and asked me to describe my approach to business development.

When I pressed him for information about his company and business activities, I did not receive an adequate reply, so our communication stopped.

The Dutch CEO of an international furniture company called me from Verona, Italy and then from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. We had several long, enjoyable conversations, and I started to believe I could soon be an international furniture salesman.

His company had a large catalog of reasonably priced, well-designed and high-quality modern furniture which was produced in Indonesia and China—and I would have responsibility for North and South America but would also be a frequent visitor to Holland, Indonesia and China.

The Dutch CEO said he panned to visit the United States in early November, and as soon as he discussed the matter with his partner and firmed up his schedule, we would set up a meeting.

We even got to the point of discussing compensation and sales targets, but then I got caught up in other leads and could not get a confirmation regarding his visit to America. Eventually, our communication fizzled out.

The British CEO of an international car parts company left me an encouraging message and told me to be in contact with his human resources department.

I called and spoke several times with his human resources manager and learned what I could about the company which re-manufactured car parts. It was growing at forty percent a year and expanding all over the world, especially in Africa and Eastern Europe.

I spoke with the CEO briefly a couple of times, but the first time we spoke he said he was too busy to talk at length and said he would call me back—but did not.

The second time he could not talk for more than a few minutes because he was ill with a severe flu.

I tried contacting him and his human resources manager several times after that but could not get a response.

My most unusual and distant international lead turned out to be the one that developed most seriously.

Dr. Tetsuji Okuno initially called me and left a message, but the connection was full of static, so I could not understand his name, message or telephone number.

He then sent me an email that he had seen me on NHK, a major Japanese network and had been impressed by my attitude. He told me to look at his web site—and I was instantly intrigued by his dedication to medical science and cancer research.

We started corresponding by email, and I soon received a call from his English-speaking in-law in Vancouver telling me that he was extending an invitation to me to visit him and his cancer treatment clinic in Yokohama—perhaps in the middle of October.

I was extremely excited and intrigued by the invitation, but my wife and others in my family did not think it was a practical lead to pursue.

Blog Roll

On September 15th, when Lehman Brothers collapsed, turning thousands more bankers into job-seekers, I received a call from a producer at Inside Edition, and a town car arrived at my sister’s house in Larchmont to whisk me to the mid-town television studio for an interview in response to the collapse. It struck me as absurd how at the same time I was penniless and sleeping on my sister’s couch, I was being whisked by a town car to a television studio in New York City. The show was broadcast nationally—and my phone rang non-stop for days.

One of the most exciting calls I received was from an acquaintance—Sharon Gitelle—whom I had not seen since high school. She worked at Forbes.com and invited me to join the “recently launched community of the high quality business and financial bloggers—the Forbes Business and Financial Blog Network.”
I had started a blog only a month and a half before—more about that later—and already I was receiving a blogging seal of approval!

As a result of the Lehman collapse and the worsening financial crisis, as the poster boy for Wall Street, I was subsequently interviewed by news teams representing major Finnish, Belgian and Japanese TV networks—and I conducted off-camera interviews with journalists from Reuters and a German newspaper Rheinische Post.

I was definitely having more success with the media than with my job search. As the summer slipped away, I was getting far more offers for media interviews than for job interviews. I wasn’t getting paid for all the publicity, but the tremendous interest in my story was an indication that I was doing something right—and it was a sign of great things to come.

Loco Tonic

As August drew to a close and my leads and interviews in the New York area and Omaha did not amount to anything solid, I started to spend more and more time focusing on opportunities and contacts elsewhere in the country.

At the beginning of the summer I had willing to move almost anywhere for the right opportunity—but by the end of the end of August I was willing to move anywhere for any opportunity.

Cindy and I wanted to live in New York City or Omaha, but it came to a point where we were willing to go wherever a job would take us.

In mid-August, I had been contacted by a Sloan School of Management student who was doing a summer internship in Plano, Texas at an entrepreneurial firm that was a private equity fund, venture capital firm and hedge fund all rolled into one. He had told me to get in touch with his boss, Charlie Gallamore, the founder of Southwest Texas Capital.

I called Charlie and we had a great conversation which ended with him inviting me to Plano for a meeting.

Coincidently, that same day, I came across an article in the news touting Plano as the most affluent city in the United States—measured with respect to per capita income versus cost of living. I had never thought about moving to Texas but I was suddenly intrigued.

In early September, within days after leaving my sublet in Manhattan and moving to my sister’s house in Larchmont, I took an early morning flight from Westchester Airport to Dallas to meet with Charlie and the gang.

When I walked in the door of the Southwest Texas Capital’s offices in Plano, I was in for a real treat.

Charlie quickly offered me a can of Loco Tonic, an energy drink he had invented and was promoting for the Latino market—and things took off from there.

One by one, I met with Charlie and his entrepreneurial partners. As awkward as I felt being in an environment very different from what I was used to in corporate New York, Charlie and his gang made me feel right at home. Their charm and charisma were enticing—or was it the Loco Tonic?

Besides Loco Tonic, the firm had several other interesting projects in the works, including a startup called RX HBO which sold hyperbaric chambers for chronic wound care and a municipal bond hedge fund.

At the end of a long and interesting day, Charlie astounded me when after flying me in for an interview, he told me he would love to hire me but did not have any money to pay me.

“Would you consider working for commissions?” he asked.

I was already in touch with several boutique investment banks in New York City who were considering giving me a platform from which to work but no base salary. It was called eat what you kill.

It was typical in some industries for sales-people to live off commissions—but was this the new paradigm for financial services?

No one, it seemed at the time, wanted to increase their overhead with the economy looking so bleak.

I had not given it serious consideration at the beginning of the summer, but with half a dozen of my potential employers talking about revenue sharing with no base—and nothing else working out—I started giving such arrangements serious thought. Nevertheless, it did not seem practical to move from New York to Plano for such an arrangement.

From Dallas, I flew to Omaha to spend a few days with my family.

While in Omaha, I had hoped to meet with the CEO of Mutual of Omaha Bank, a new division of the well-known Mutual of Omaha Insurance Company, but unfortunately the CEO had to leave town on urgent business. He was buying a distressed bank in Arizona.

I returned to New York having had a great trip to Plano and Omaha, but I still did not have a job.

NYSE Publicity

Strangely, as my job leads fizzled out one after another and in stark contrast to my financial situation which kept getting worse over the course of my unemployment, my publicity kept growing [and continues until this very day, Voices of the Decade, Ten defining events for New York City by the people who were there, New York Post, December 27, 2009]. Apparently, my image and story had struck a deep chord in the personal and social psyche. In fact, my publicity seemed to grow in perfect inverse proportion to the deepening global economic crisis.

As the Face of the American Economy and a Sign of the Times, I became the go-to guy for depressing economic news. Every time higher-than-expected unemployment numbers came out, I received at least one or two calls from journalists asking me to repeat the details of my sandwich board story and share my insights on the economy.

And every time a television, newspaper or Internet story came out displaying my sandwich board picture with my contact information in plain view, my cell phone would ring for hours, and I would receive dozens of emails from across the nation and around the world.

On August 22, a crew of journalists from Japan’s NTV chauffeured me from my Upper East Side sublet to Wall Street for an interview in the heart of capitalism.

We strolled around the financial district and settled on the steps of the old Federal Hall National Memorial, by the prominent bronze statue of George Washington.

I sat facing the New York Sock Exchange whose pillars were covered by a giant American flag and spoke about the presidential candidates, their economic policies and the upcoming elections.

I explained that initially I had been leaning toward Senator McCain because I thought we needed to maintain a clear strategy against terrorism and a strong force in the Middle East—and I was for lower taxes and less government.

However, I also admitted that Senator Obama’s charisma was pulling me in, and I was starting to believe he could help change the world’s perception of the USA for the better—which might be more powerful than the sword. Furthermore, I was for universal health care and aggressive development of alternative energy technologies.

Playing the diplomat, I said I was still on the fence and expected to learn more about the candidates’ policies and visions during the upcoming national conventions.

Crowds of tourists passed by, glancing at me as if I were a celebrity—and a street preacher who seemed to have been in the same spot since George Washington’s time barked for all to repent.

When the interview was over, I strolled around Wall Street recalling my first job after graduating MIT—when I worked on the floor of the American Stock Exchange as an Assistant Options Specialist.

I recalled the excitement on the floor, the rows of computer screens displaying stock quotations, the yelling and shoving as floor brokers and traders positioned themselves and elbowed their way through the crowds.

On the floor of the stock exchange, I had felt as though I were in the heart of capitalism, the center of the free market.

After an intense day on the floor, I would often go across the street for a beer at a bar on a high floor in the World Trade Centers. I would look out over the city and feel as though I were on top of the world.

I remembered the awe I had felt when my brother had first guided me around his place of employment, the Salomon Brothers trading floor near Battery Park. I recalled visiting with my mother in her office when she had worked at AIG on Maiden Lane. I recalled my father telling me that his first office, after graduating from Harvard Law School, had been on Lower Broadway.

My family and I were so connected to the financial district, I almost felt as if I were home—or more relevant to my situation, I had the heart-warming sensation of being employed again.

High Frequency Trading

One of the most exciting calls I got during the summer was from a businessman in Los Angeles who had come cross my story in the New York Times. He claimed he was one of the founders of Qualcomm and had several businesses in which I might fit. I Googled him and learned that he was worth about $900 million dollars.

Cindy and I started to get excited. It was unbelievable. The publicity was working. We anticipated I would soon have a great job. Our white knight had arrived. Suddenly, the possibilities seemed endless. Knowing what I knew about him, I was more open to change and opportunity than ever before.

It took a few weeks to set up a meeting with my contact’s colleagues in New York—but then I spent a week with a high frequency trading start-up and learned a bit about the competitive and secretive world of high frequency "black box" stock trading. I also helped the CEO with his business plan and advised him regarding strategic business decisions.

The group I met with had invested millions of dollars and two years developing their micro-second trading platform. They had made many mistakes with their infrastructure and business strategy and were convinced they were on the verge of making it big—or they would go bankrupt within a few months.
It was an intriguing opportunity.

Although I very much wanted it to work out, I could not come to a mutually beneficial agreement with the CEO and we decided to part ways.

As a gesture of good will, he paid me for my time and efforts as a consultant—but the fact that the opportunity did not work was one of several huge disappointments I experienced during my long and frustrating job search.

To make matters worse, my white knight did not follow through with any other opportunities or contacts—and our communication fizzled out.

Sometimes you can be open to change, but change is not open to you.

Multi-Level Marketing

It was fascinating for me to experience the calls one gets when one is famous and unemployed.

As a result of my contact information going public, I received dozens of offers to help me start my own business. In fact, some of the most persistent callers and emailers to me were people involved with internet-based multi-level marketing schemes—and I spoke at length with many of them.

They would first tell me how they liked my courage, spunk and creativity—and then they would hit me with their pitch. “Look at our web site.” “Come to our next meeting.” “Think about it—it will change your life.”

They seemed sincere and had interesting stories of their own, but my skepticism and the many warnings I found in articles on the Internet prevented me from taking the plunge.

Most of the multi-level marketing schemes involved selling products online while also recruiting other people to sell the same products. I would earn money from what I sold but also earn a share of what the people I recruited sold.

The entrepreneurs who started these companies and people who got in early—and people who really did have the marketing and sales skills, patience and persistence to grow a solid network—probably did very well, but most people who got involved with these schemes were just wasting their time, effort and money.

Some of the multi-level marketing networks were free to join or had very low fees, so there was not much to lose and plenty of potential commissions to be made. However, some of them charged hundreds of dollars for new members—and I read several articles stating that most new members do not generate enough income to cover their initial costs and investment.

Multiple streams of income and residual income for life and beyond sounded more than great, so I tried thinking of my own multi-level marketing scheme with a decent product and a way to get started.

Boutique IB

Another call I received immediately after my publicity was from an attorney at a prestigious boutique investment bank. He told me he had read my story in the newspaper, empathized with my situation—he had been there before—and would help me out.

A week later I had an encouraging interview with the COO of the boutique investment bank. I was so excited and the COO seemed impressed with my experience. The firm was growing, he said, and he would see if he could fit me in. The only hitch was that there was no clear job opening or job description—and as a next step, he wanted me to meet with the firm’s two managing partners.

For weeks, we tried to arrange the meeting, but it was summer and the managing partners were both traveling for business and then on vacation.

Week after week, I checked in with the COO to see if we could schedule a meeting, but I soon stopped getting responses to my emails and calls. I didn’t want to be a nudge, but I also did not want to let a great opportunity slip by.

What was going on?

Finally, toward the end of August, almost two months after my initial and promising interview, I received an email from the COO:

Hi Josh,
I apologize for being unresponsive in this process.  Given the uncertain state of the markets, we have actually begun to trim staffing and hunker down for what may be a bumpy ride. I’m sorry to report that there are currently no opportunities at ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­_____________.  I will keep your resume on file and will contact you when we begin to see the light at the end of the tunnel.
Regards,

I was so disappointed, especially after being invited for a second meeting, waiting nearly two months—and then having the company’s situation change before the meeting could take place. How frustrating!

Yet, I knew not to take it personally. At least the excitement of the potential position had helped keep up my spirits during my frustrating search.

Lychee Wine

One of the first interesting offers I received after my publicity went viral was to sell lychee wine imported from China. Unfortunately, there was no salary involved and the company had little infrastructure.

My potential employer Vince LoDato had a wine cellar in upstate New York and partnered with a warehouse in New Jersey but had no facilities in New York City. I would have to carry samples of lychee wine door-to-door, create a buzz and sell sell sell in order to earn commissions. If I could stand out on Park Avenue with a sign board, I could surely sell lychee wine store-to-store.

I met with Vince in Rhinebeck, New York, at my father’s house, tasted the delicious lychee wine made from Chinese lychee nuts and thought how fun and wonderful it would be to succeed in the liquor business.

Vince and I sat on the porch for an hour, sipping the sweet dessert wine and discussing the opportunity—and life.

However, when I sobered up and asked around a bit, I learn it would be a very tough sell. Apparently, local American lychee wine producers had already produced a respectable-tasting lychee wine, exerted their marketing power and cornered the market. Perhaps, if I had not had a family to support, I would have taken up the challenge and gone for it. It would have been a great adventure, and I might have struck it rich—but being practical, I had to focus on finding a salaried position or starting my own business.

Transitioning

After my wife and children had left to the airport, moments before I lugged my own suitcases and boxes to a small summer sub-let across the street, I sat in my near-empty apartment trying to catch my breath. I wanted to comprehend the changes going on in my life—losing my job, being unemployed for six months, wearing a sign board on Park Avenue, saying good bye to my wife and children, leaving the apartment where I had lived for the past five years—and the publicity!

A week before, I thought I had been ready for anything. I had gone out to Park Avenue wearing a sign board to hand out resumes. At least I had been willing to experiment and try something different. Yet, I was still hoping to find a job in New York City—or Omaha.

With all the publicity, my network had been extended nationally—even internationally—and I suddenly found myself in touch with people from all over the country and all around the world involved in various fields of work. I knew I would have to consider each and every opportunity, no matter where or what it was.

As I glanced out over the East River from my apartment for the very last time, there was only one thing I knew for sure—even if I had been open to change before, I would have to be even more so going forward. 

Indeed, I had transitioned several times during my professional life. I had worked as an options specialist on the floor of the American Stock Exchange, in marketing and business development for an international satellite communications company, as a commercial banker for a large European bank and as an investment banker on Park Avenue—and it looked as though it was time to transition again. I knew I would have to consider employment in other fields of work and other locations other than New York City and Omaha. In my situation, I could not afford too be too fussy.

$500 Reward for Business Valuation Leads

If you know anyone who needs a business valuation for any purpose: transaction, tax, investment, regulatory, financial reporting, divorce or corporate litigation, I will pay you $500 if your lead leads to valuations work for me and my best-of-breed valuation partners.

If your primary contact has a secondary contact who needs the valuation work, I will pay you $300 and your contact $200.

Please call me for all your valuation needs!

tel: 917 650 8700

Lesson Learned—Be Creative!

• When searching for a job, get inspired and be creative! You want to stand out from the competition and get noticed. If your approach is the same as everyone else’s, how are you going to find a job? There are a lot of fellow job hunters out there. You are looking for the job—it’s not necessarily looking for you.
  
  
• It doesn’t take much. You don’t have to be as creative as Leonardo da Vinci or Thomas Edison. A little ingenuity can go a long way. All I did was put on a $2 sign board and go out to Park Avenue to hand out some resumes, and my life was never the same.
  
  
• When doing the same old thing does not work, don’t give up, but also don’t keep doing the same old thing. Get inspired and do something innovative. Think out-of-the-box, and take a little risk. (One of the definitions of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting to get different results.) You might have to overcome your fears and inhibitions, but it may well be worth the effort.
  
  
• Don’t be afraid of embarrassment. When I donned a sign board on the corner of 50th Street and Park Avenue, I felt as awkward and embarrassed as could be, but I went through with it. I do not strive to do one thing that scares me every day, as some people do, but sometimes I consciously go out of my comfort zone. Wearing a sign board on Park Avenue was certainly one of those times.
  
  
• Let your creativity flow. Since my own creative and inspirational act, I have become aware of many other resourceful, inspirational and out of the box approaches to finding a job. One person in California had their resume printed on a t-shirt. Another person in Texas advertised their job search on a billboard. A woman in San Francisco set up a web site to help publicize her husband’s job search. A “copycat” sign board guy even hit the streets of New York City and garnered much publicity.
  
  
• Look to history for inspiration. I did not invent the sign board approach. After my publicity, I was contacted by a several people who had advertised their job search using a sign board months or even years before, and they told me they had eventually been quite successful. In the Great Depression, unemployed people wearing sign boards were a common sight.
  
  
• The main thing is to do something. Preferably it’s something innovative and constructive—and also something that suits your personality and that you can live with. If you want to find a job, you have to get noticed. It does not take much, but you have to show initiative. Add a little color to your approach and resume!
  
  
• If you want to find a job, you have got to reach deep inside yourself and bring out your true colors. You’ve got to do something different to attract the attention that will put you ahead of the competition.